AI is more than the latest buzzword. It’s a technology that your company can use to recover lost productivity. According to Notta, an estimated $37 billion is lost due to unproductive meetings per year. This could be from unclear communications, technology failure, or inconsistent experiences. AI can take the friction out of an IT director’s day but also help them recoup lost revenue from unproductive workers. AI agents can check on the status of rooms, detect occupancy usage, and even update firmware. This technology offloads tasks that take up time and energy today. As video conferencing platforms add more AI features into their systems, giving your employees a way to activate and engage with those features is critical. Let’s look at some of the ways AI is making meetings, and supporting those meetings, a better experience for all.
Added AI
Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other video platforms are constantly adding AI features. Craig Durr from The Collab Collective says “AI is driving strategy. It’s moving from just collaboration and into business enablement.” These options are changing daily and workers are adding them into their daily practices. When they get into a meeting they want to leverage the same tools.
Crestron’s Brad Hintze notes “Using a control system like Crestron, attendees can enable features like Microsoft’s Co-Pilot for meeting notes, task assignments, and enhanced transcription.” This gives employees the freedom to bring their existing AI work tools into a collaborative space.
The requirement to include AI in employees’ daily workflow is only going to increase. Using control systems in a meeting space provides the power to access enhanced AI features regardless of where the meeting is taking place.
Employee Experience
Today employee satisfaction is in flux. With some companies pushing for a full return to office and others leveraging hybrid or fully remote, keeping employees engaged has never been more crucial. “Companies are using AI to increase employee satisfaction,” remarked Durr.
There are a few ways we can point to in this article. The first is to ensure the spaces they use are working the way that is expected. Crafting AI agents, IT departments can monitor occupancy usage. Those same agents can be used to detect issues with room technology. In some cases, they can also troubleshoot or fix issues before employees get to a room. If not, the system interacts with scheduling software to move a meeting from a room that is down to one that is operational.
“Companies can deploy AI agents for firmware updates, provide feedback on a room’s usage, or provide insights into performance,” says Hintze. Using agents, IT departments can streamline operations and ensure a better overall experience to employees utilizing meeting rooms.
Visual AI
There are two main aspects of visual AI; presenter tracking and speaker tracking. These technologies provide a more intimate experience for those far-end participants.
Presenter tracking detects when someone steps up to present. This is done mainly in spaces like lecture halls or classrooms. Rooms where there is a definitive “speaker area”. The AI keeps them in focus and in frame. Even if they pace around like a TED talk rockstar.
Speaker tracking is a bit more involved. As the conversation bounces around the room, the cameras switch between speakers. There are a couple of things going on here. First is a multi-camera setup. That’s important. As one person is speaking the second camera is panning, tilting, zooming, and focusing on speaker number 2. When the system is ready there is a cut that makes the experience feel like your favorite talk show.
Leverage AI
AI is a brand-new field that is open for business objectives and worker satisfaction. This technology also enables meeting rooms and spaces with the tools to fully engage your employees and increase productivity. AI can assist with redundant tasks, monitoring, quick fix solutions, and engaging a distracted workforce. Start with what it is you’re trying to accomplish and work with a trusted technology advisor. That way you can really use the promise of AI to push your company forward and keep employees engaged along the way.
Tim Albright is the founder of AVNation and is the driving force behind the AVNation network. He carries the InfoComm CTS, a B.S. from Greenville College and is pursuing an M.S. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. When not steering the AVNation ship, Tim has spent his career designing systems for churches both large and small, Fortune 500 companies, and education facilities.
